Textile Cure against Noise

Finding a universal language which is valid across all cultural and geographical borders – that’s what American artist Sheila Hicks has been aiming at for more than 50 years. There’s probably no one who missed her installation at this year’s art biennial in Venice: balls of wool the size of medicine balls, in rich primary colors, were piled up at the Arsenale, and one would have loved to let oneself fall into them like in the children's play paradise at the branch stores of a furniture chain.

It is precisely this aspect that makes up fabric - you like to touch it, grab it, let it envelop you. Since time immemorial, textiles have been covering, dressing, absorbing, decorating, protecting, warming us. The fact that we are experiencing a return to textile materials may therefore come as no surprise - after all, architecture has successfully banned curtains and carpets from interiors in recent years. But it is not only the lack of this sensual-tactile experience, the reason is also a very pragmatic one: sound became a problem - and this opened up a whole new market. Sound-absorbing panels on the desk, as a decorative element on the wall or cocoon-like seats with plenty of fabric, into which you can withdraw to make quiet telephone calls, show that textiles considerably reduce the background noise. 

The return of old acquaintances
It is also down to the desire for more color and patterns in the room, which is increasingly finding its way into the interiors under the keyword of eclecticism, that fabrics are again used more often. Just think of the Persian carpets, which were first used as obsolete items in Berlin's hipster cafés and then finally as a noble vintage piece in the houses of higher earners. Or even the resurgent interest in velvet - first triggered by Dries van Noten on the catwalk and then transferred by his colleague Raf Simons to interior design with the upholstery fabric collection for the Danish supplier Kvadrat.

For Felix Diener, textile designer in Düsseldorf, it's clear: “Something is currently changing in the way we use textiles in rooms”. However, as the creative designer points out, the «traditional textile expertise» has been lost over the years. Today, designers were hardly able to distinguish a cheap fabric from a high-quality one or tell whether it is cotton, wool, viscose or polyester. “Architects and interior designers need to learn this once again.”   

With experts on a textile tour
In order to find the finest, most functional and most suitable fabrics from among the wide range on offer, World Architects together with experts will be looking for the «truffles» at the upcoming Heimtextil - the international trade fair for home and contract textiles, which opens its doors in Frankfurt on the Main from January 9 to 12, 2018. The tours, which are guided by architects and interior designers such as Alexander Brenner or Sabine Krumrey (brandherm + krumrey), will take place every day of the fair on a specific theme. More information is available at the end of this report.

The new format of the special exhibition, where suppliers of materials suitable for commercial use will be presenting themselves in the newly added Hall 4.2, will be just as interesting because of its compactness: at the Interior.Architecture.Hospitality Expo, trade visitors have the opportunity to contact the exhibiting companies directly in order to discuss current projects and jointly find solutions for specific design or application issues. Drapilux (DE), Forster Rohner (CH), Low & Bonar (DE), Chieftain Fabrics (IRL), Gerriets (DE), Griffine (FR), Senfa (FR) and Maasberg (DE) are the participating companies. Lectures and events by other partners such as AIT, Allgemeine Hotel- und Gastronomie-Zeitung (AHGZ), the Association of German Interior Architects/Designers (BDIA) as well as a lounge for networking round off the program at the Interior.Architecture.Hospitality Expo. Also helpful is the special list of exhibitors, the Interior.Architecture.Hospitality Guide, which makes it easy to find suitable manufacturers of furniture and decoration fabrics at Heimtextil; 435 exhibitors (of a total of over 3,000) with special offers for contract furnishing are listed for 2018. This means that Heimtextil is once again strengthening its services especially for architects, hotel furnishers and contract designers. “A curated selection of innovative fabrics or technologies makes it easier for professional visitors to find orientation and inspiration within the broad spectrum”, confirms interior designer Ushi Tamborriello, who was involved in the think tank for the new format.

Preventing fire and sound
Flame retardant materials in particular have underwent considerable development in recent years. “Today, there are contract fabrics that really look like linen or wool - even if the «feel» is still difficult”, explains Diener, a textile designer who develops fabrics for contract building projects. Anyone who is looking for abrasion-, fire- and even water-resistant knitted and woven fabrics will probably not be able to get past Trevira CS. A visit to the market leader's special presentation in Hall 4.2, Stand H71 at Heimtextil, where it will be exhibiting together with 18 partner companies, such as the Austrian weaving mill Stieger or the manufacturer Getzner Textil, well known for its African damask fabrics, will provide information on what the highly specialized yarns - especially in the field of acoustics - can achieve. Trevira CS also has innovations in store: for example, a phosphorescent yarn that glows for up to seven hours after only a short exposure to light or a high-strength, permanently flame-retardant textured yarn with a particularly high strength and low stretch, making it interesting for wall coverings, for example. All in all, other manufacturers have also expanded - and above all refined - their range of contract textiles.

Of course, the demand for acoustic solutions does not even spare wallpapers - which are traditionally strongly represented at Heimtextil in Hall 3.1. After A.S. Création’s Architects Paper brand, which is specializing in the contract market, already presented «feel», magnetic wall panels made of felt, two years ago, this novelty is likely to go one step further: Norafin will unveil a tear-resistant fleece wallpaper made of flax fiber with sound-absorbing and -insulating properties. In addition, the wallpaper is 100 percent compostable and promotes a natural room climate through its natural materials. There's also a lot going on in terms of decoration on the wall: one can look forward to the new collaboration between the Belgian company Arte and the young firm Flavor Paper from Brooklyn, New York. Don't panic, it won't be a strawberry-flavored wallpaper (we already had that in the 1990s), but especially imaginative and exotic prints. Besides Élitis, Marburger Tapetenfabrik and Omexco, Arte is one of the most creative companies in the industry.

Especially in recent years, it has been possible to observe how the sophisticated quality of wallpaper has improved - whether with lines such as for «Le Corbusier» by Arte or «Crush» by Marburger Tapetenfabrik, which have in common the theme of 3D or texture. The fact that wallpapers are again being made by hand is demonstrated at the forthcoming Heimtextil not only by wallpaper designer Ulrich Welter from Berlin, who, for example, decorates Chanel boutiques worldwide with his wallpaper embroidered with pearls, but also by Marburger Tapetenfabrik, which has been partnering with the «Horus» workshop since last year and provides 36 wallpapers in its product range, including some real metal wallpapers with copper or gold leaf. 

Smart technologies, deep colors
The Theme Park in particular, the Heimtexil trend show, which has been organized for years by leading international trend agencies on an alternating basis, promises to offer a focused view through the keyhole this time. The themes developed by the London-based agency Franklin Till are not only oriented towards the world of textiles, but also cover a wider spectrum. Under the title of «The future is urban», the Londoners are breaking down overriding trends to the industry. In this way, the growing need for modular furniture for an increasingly smaller living space is taken up, as well as possibilities for relaxation in the hectic life in cities and at work, the desire for authentic, hand-made products and, of course, a return to nature.

Thanks to their material quality, new innovative and smart technologies and color, textiles can play a significant role in all areas of interior design. So it is hardly surprising that the color worlds predicted by the trend agency are as diverse as the trends. The time when you could orientate by one or two trend colors is long gone. Pantone, too, is presenting several color palettes for 2018. Whether Pantone or Franklin Till: the overriding thing is that after the many pastel worlds, richer colors are now being selected again. This perfectly matches textiles because hardly any other material can transport color as brightly, brilliantly and vividly as woven, knotted or knitted fabrics. Sheila Hicks made it very clear to us at the Arsenale.  

Martina Metzner works as a freelance design journalist in her hometown Frankfurt/Main. After working in fashion journalism and at Stylepark, she now focuses on textiles and sustainability in design.  

Heimtextil – International Trade Fair for Home and Contract Textiles
from 9 to 12 January 2018
Exhibition Grounds in Frankfurt/Main

Opening hours:
Tuesday – Thursday 9 - 11 January: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Friday 12 January: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Further useful information about a visit to the trade fair can be found here:
www.heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com

Guided Tours org. by World Architects:
www.world-architects.com/heimtextil-2018-guided-tours

All about trends, events, special exhibitions or awards:
www.heimtextil-theme-park.com
www.heimtextil-blog.com
​www.events.messefrankfurt.com